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On 'Conan,' Pence talks Game 7 double, Katy Perry

On 'Conan,' Pence talks Game 7 double, Katy Perry

10/22/12: Hunter Pence, the sparkplug of the Giants, leads the team with his unusual intensity

By Paul Casella
/
MLB.com |

In his Tuesday night appearance on the late-night talk show "Conan," Giants outfielder Hunter Pence didn't delve into any of his well-publicized motivational speeches.

Instead, the vocal leader of the World Series champions spent most of his time with Conan O'Brien talking about his wacky three-run, broken-bat double in the NLCS against the Cardinals and, of course, Katy Perry.

Pence took the stage holding one of the empty champagne bottles used in the Giants' NLCS celebration after they rallied to defeat the Cards in seven games. He presented the autographed bottle to Conan as a gift before the two discussed the Giants' title run.

In talking about the bizarre broken-bat play, in which the ball made contact with Pence's bat three separate times within a split-second, Pence conceded that, while it may have looked interesting, it wasn't much of a swing.

"I like to joke that it was just a beautiful path of staying inside the ball, but really the pitch kind of beat me and something happened where the ball hit my bat three times," Pence said on the show. "I didn't feel it when I hit the ball -- you don't feel it. It's happening really fast obviously, so I take a swing as hard as I can, and it feels like I just broke my bat.

"When it goes off my bat I see Kozma goes left then the ball starts taking off right and I was just like 'Wooo'."

After briefly making fun of the awkward running motion that accompanied Pence's "Wooo," the conversation turned to the outfielder's walk-up music and Perry.

Pence shared the tale of how "California Gurls," complete with his own rendition of a couple select lines, was once his song of choice. And, as it turns out, he isn't Perry's only fan in the Giants' clubhouse.

On the trip to St. Louis during the NLCS, Pence admitted that he considered watching Perry's "Part of Me" documentary, one of the films being shown in-flight. Citing his toughness and the presence of all his teammates, he elected to forego the film.

Pitcher Ryan Vogelsong didn't make the same decision.

"I get on the bus [after the flight] and Vogelsong sits next to me," Pence said. "Vogelsong -- you know, Philadelphia, Vogelstrong, super tough -- we're talking on the bus and he's like, 'I watched that Katy Perry "Part of Me" movie, and it was really awesome.' And we all start having this huge discussion, and I'm like, 'Man, he had the courage to watch that and tell us about it.'"

Needless to say, "Part of Me" was Pence's in-flight entertainment en route to Detroit for Games 3 and 4 of the World Series.

Pence's next stop on the Giants' victory tour will be alongside his teammates in Wednesday's victory parade in San Francisco.

Paul Casella is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @paul_casella.
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.